I just came out of the Transformers: Age of Extinction and I want to start this critique by adding that I've hardly watched any of the cartoons with the exception of the Beast Wars. I wasn't a big fan of the franchise until I saw the movie and for fans who did see the cartoon and hated the movies, your attitude won't change. I became a fan by watching the movies and while story wise and dialogue usually lack, the action is always top notch and it carries on into this 4th installment into the franchise. Michael Bay has a terrible reputation for putting in so much action and explosions into his movies, the film itself is a giant roller coaster in a way. He definitely put himself in that box with this film that apparently will be his last time directing.
For those whom may not know, the transformers started out as toys owned by famous company, Hasbro. When their popularity skyrocketed, the cartoons came out only to spread the word and made more money for the company. In 2007, Michael Bay would bring them to the big screen with a screaming Shia LaBeouf and sexy Megan Fox. However fans who are "purist" to say the least were outrage by the changes made as well as other things I don't care to mention simply because, it's fiction so let's get over it. While the stories can be confusing and the action ridiculous at times, again this is an action movie, nobody expects Oscar winning performances.
To me, this film is no different from the rest with the only exception of the absent Shia LaBeouf whom is replaced by Mark Wahlberg who plays an inventor/tech repairman. Living with his daughter in Texas, they come across what appears to be a broken down truck which turns out to be Autobot Leader Optimus Prime. This brings Wahlberg and his family into a war that's been going on behind the scenes ever since the events of the last movie Dark of The Moon. The United States government is hunting the Autobots who once swore to defend them thus breaking the alliance and Optimus Prime's faith in humanity. To add more on Prime's crap list, a bounty hunter claiming to be working for Optimus's "creators" comes to Earth to bring him back to his place of origin.
Meanwhile Mark Wahlberg and his daughter played by Nicola Peltz, are on the run from Kelsey Grammer who in charge of the CIA and Stanley Tucci who plays the owner of a corporation that's building their own army of Autobots that can be controlled with the aid of studying and resurrecting a familiar foe. Armed with the legendary voice of the original Optimus Prime, Peter Cullen and a few surprise voice cameos, this film brings in familiar and new Autobots to love. Like most of the Transformers movies, this is a great action film with a barrage of explosions and tons of action that makes the 2 and 1/2 hours feel like only 90 minutes.
This definitely wasn't the worst, that title belongs to Revenge of the Fallen but this film was worth the money, especially in 3D. Besides the action, there was plenty of comedy relief and a heartfelt theme with Mark Wahlberg playing a father that learns to let go of his daughter. I would have to give this movie a solid 7 out of 10 because again, this is an action film. The story was confusing at times and the action was really over the top, I think I saw more explosions in this film than any other done by Michael Bay. The other problem I had was the newly added Dino-bots because they really just appeared without any origin or anything.
It was revealed in the beginning that the "creators" used some of Earth's atmosphere during the dinosaur period to create the Autobots so did they make the Dino-bots as prototypes or something? Ignoring the minor details, this is still a fun movie and I can tell just from the ending that it's the end of Michael Bay but not the end of Optimus Prime. Of course, if you're one of those people that didn't like any of the movies anyway then I doubt you should bother. I wonder if you even take the time to finish my critique? Anyway, this movie is a solid summer blockbuster and I will anxiously look forward to the fifth installment.
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